Table of Contents
- 1) Understand the Foundations of STEM Education
- 2) Focus on Student Engagement & Hands-On Learning
- 3) Use Inquiry-Based Teaching Methods
- 4) Integrate Technology to Enhance Learning
- 5) Learn Alongside Your Students
- 6) Plan for Classroom Management in a STEM Setting
- 7) Connect STEM to Other Subjects
- 8) Make STEM Learning Accessible for All Students
- 9) Start Small & Keep Experimenting
- Make STEM Teaching Rewarding and Engaging for You and Your Students
Doing anything for the first time can be both stressful and exciting. As a first-time STEM teacher, there can be a lot of questions around how to successfully implement STEM with students. How do I keep them engaged? How do I ensure the learning objectives are met? What can I do to make sure my lessons translate to standardized tests? These are some of the many questions new educators ask themselves when implementing STEM curricula for the first time.
In this article, we will cover nine (9) tips for new STEM teachers to help successfully navigate administering fun, engaging, effective STEM lessons with students.
1) Understand the Foundations of STEM Education
The first and most essential step in preparing to implement STEM with students is to understand what it is and why it matters. STEM is an acronym used to describe science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. When looking at how to incorporate STEM learning into the classroom, it is helpful not to think about these subjects individually, rather as a grouping of classroom subjects that seamlessly combine into engaging, real-world related lessons. When done properly, STEM lessons help students promote inquiry-based learning, which leads to them building life skills, such as strong critical thinking and problem solving skills.
2) Focus on Student Engagement & Hands-On Learning
When implementing STEM lessons, it can be beneficial for both students and educators to lean into hands-on methods. When students are active participants in the learning process, it leads to a deeper understanding of the material and a stronger ability to connect the lesson to other applicable classroom experiences and real-world scenarios. This teaching method has been proven to improve student scores on standardized tests and leads to a higher retention rate, helping students build their skills quickly as they join more challenging courses.
3) Use Inquiry-Based Teaching Methods
Inquiry-based learning methods focus heavily on students engaging in the lesson by asking thoughtful questions, exploring potential solutions, and using those around them as sources of additional information. In STEM, it is essential for students to understand that sometimes there are multiple avenues to get to the best solution and, at times, there may even be multiple solutions. One way to successfully implement inquiry-based teaching into the STEM classroom is by leveraging the Engineering Design Process (EDP). The EDP system focuses on a series of steps commonly used in engineering to allow for learning through failure, with an emphasis on problem solving skills to find the best solution.
4) Integrate Technology to Enhance Learning
For many teachers, the initial reaction to technology is to keep it out of the classroom so students can focus more on what they are learning. While this is true in some ways, technology can be a major resource when it comes to STEM lessons. Plus, technology literacy is becoming increasingly important in the workplace, and giving students opportunities to use technology in the classroom can have long-term benefits. Examples of technology that can be used to enhance STEM learning include coding platforms, STEM applications, and virtual labs.
5) Learn Alongside Your Students
You do not have to be an expert in every area and you do not have to be perfect! As a new STEM teacher, there are a variety of different ways to improve your STEM skills. Through online teacher forums and shared STEM resources, educators can continue to learn more about the lessons they are trying to implement with students.
6) Plan for Classroom Management in a STEM Setting
Since STEM lessons are hands-on by nature, it is important to create clear expectations heading into a lesson. By clearly stating rules beforehand, students can spend their thought, time, and energy on what is most important – what they are learning! Examples of proper classroom management include standards around lab safety, guidelines for group collaboration, and standards for participation.
7) Connect STEM to Other Subjects
Cross-curricular teaching is a method where educators combine two or more subjects together into a single lesson to help students better understand the subject matter. This process also helps students to better understand why what they are learning matters and how it can be connected to real world situations. This can be anything from combining history and literature to math and physical education (PE). An example of creating a cross-curricular lesson that combines math and PE would be asking students to shoot 50 free throws and then using their recorded data to find out their shooting percentage and how their statistics compare to their classmates, and more!
8) Make STEM Learning Accessible for All Students
One of the most difficult parts of being a STEM teacher is engaging all students, regardless of their current interests and skillset. When deciding which lesson to implement, it is important to consider how to best engage left and right brained students, leading to the most shared success for all students. This can be done by creating STEM activities that vary in teaching method, allowing students to learn through doing, hearing, and seeing.
9) Start Small & Keep Experimenting
Your first lesson with students can be a simple and easy to implement STEM activity. It can be helpful to work your way up to complex, longterm STEM lessons. This is beneficial to both students and teachers, allowing everyone to create their own STEM learning environment together as a group.
Make STEM Teaching Rewarding and Engaging for You and Your Students
Being a STEM educator is an extremely rewarding career path! STEM literacy is a key aspect of a students education, and a good STEM teacher has the ability to change the way students view the subjects. This article is meant to be a resource for new STEM teachers who are eager to engage students in effective, fun STEM lessons.
By following these nine tips, teachers can be prepared to implement STEM in their classroom and help create the next generation of STEM professionals,
